Living Age of AI

In Today's Media Law and Literacy Blog Post, we will be discussing the Living Age of AI and how it relates to Privacy, National Security and Online Security / Identity theft. 

What is AI?

Photo Credit (US State Department)

Artificial Intelligence is the gathering of information by machines in opposition to human and animals that have preceded the former. As defined by Oxford,  AI is "the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages." (Oxford, AI)  A few examples of AI are IBM's Watson,  Apple's Siri along with others. 

How does AI relate to Privacy and what are its Pros and Cons?

Photo Credit (Law.com)

AI is a major risk for consumers' privacy in relation to their security on their devices as well as their privacy in their homes and daily lives. As a an example, Google Chrome is advertised as one of the most secure enhanced browsing systems available, not to mention its "private" Incognito mode which rivals Safari (Apple) and Firefox. The one issue with Googles incognito mode is that while it says it is not collecting data and location data from searches, it secretly is. This has been caught and challenged by 40 American states for just near 400 million US dollars. The lawsuit challenged that the app and company at large tracked its users even they had turned location services off. Positively, AI allows users to easily assist searches as well as pieces of home technology (Amazon Alexa/Echo dot, Ring cameras, etc). But negatively,  users will not be aware when the AI and the persons who created the AI begin watching and recording the user's tendencies without their distinct permission.

How Does AI relate to National Security and Online Security + Identity Theft?

Artificial Intelligence relates to National Security in both positive and negative ways. Positively, our military structure and system are using AI to one day create fully autonomous ships, have facial recognition as well as create software which informs service members when items need replacement among others. Negatively, our biggest national competitors like China and Russia are using AI for defense purposes as well as ways to cyber attack other states. Defensively, the Ukraine is using AI, more specifically Javelin AI and DJI AI systems (drones)

In comparison, there are still many uncharted waters in relation to AI. Some of these pertinent questions pertain around the overall security of AI along with the systems that they support along with the possible theft of people identities and their personal information. This includes usernames, passwords, credit information and so much more. These items are free and accessible to  AI and that should be address sooner rather than later.